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GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 28, ISSUE 1 8 8 GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED
The Chec✔list
On July
18, Jason
Butikofer
started his tenure
at Purdue, as the
department's first
deputy athletic
director. Butikofer
coordinates all
external relations
for Purdue, plus
is the day-to-day
sport administrator
for football and
men's basketball.
Purdue saw its second football commitment
rush from July 22-26, when six high school
seniors chose the Boilermakers, including
two of the more highly rated prospects in
defensive ends Branson Deen and Kelvin
Stokes, Jr. Purdue saw a mad rush a month
earlier, when it picked up 14 commitments
in only 20 days.
Four-star center Trevion Williams committed
to Purdue on July 6, the first in the 2018
class for Matt Painter. Rivals.com ranks
the 6-foot-8 Detroit native as the country's
94th-best prospect.
Photos
by
Southern
Utah
(Butikofer);
Rivals.com
(Deen);
Nike
(Williams)
Tom
Campbell
(Painter,
Akeem
Hunt);
Brian
Neubert
(Brohm)
Photos
by
Purdue
Athletics
(Holcomb);
Tom
Campbell
(Tiller/Brees)
If history is an indication, Coach Jeff Brohm is
up against it in his first season. Dating back to
the end of World War II, only Joe Tiller (1997,
right) and Stu Holcomb (1947) were able to
post winning records in their first seasons at
Purdue. Nine others had losing records.
Two Of 11
Only
A bit earlier than usual, Purdue opens
defense of its Big Ten title on Dec. 1, when
the Boilermakers play at Maryland. The
schedule is pushed up — Purdue opens at
home vs. Northwestern Dec. 3 — because
the Big Ten Tournament is too, as it'll be
played in Madison Square Garden a week
prior to Selection Sunday.
Purdue's commitments — 21 of them
as of mid-August — will get a chance
to sign early, in the Dec. 20-22 window,
after the period was given final approval
in May. Players could wait to sign in the
traditional spring period, which runs the first
Wednesday of February to April 1.
Sept. 18, 2021, Purdue and Notre Dame will
renew their rivalry, playing their first game
since 2014. As part of a renegotiated series,
the teams will play in '21 at Notre Dame,
then in 2024-28, the last two years additions
to a previous agreement. The games are in
Ross-Ade Stadium in the even-numbered
years.